bought a used RK 3-link

So I just paid $250 for a used Rock Krawler 3-link. Well most of it anyway. i got front coils, rear leaves, 3-link arms and associated bushings and rod ends, sway bar extensions, and track bar.

The guy i bought it from didn't really know much about it, just that it was on his jeep when he bought it, and he ended parting his Jeep out. It's supposed to be an 8" lift. I didn't really want to go that big but i've been on a BB for the last year or two and am anxious to move up. The rear leaves are pretty hashed but i'm gonna try and run them anyway. The joints look like they need to be rebuilt or maybe just cleaned, not really sure but will check them out in the daylight tomorrow. Also not real sure about what company made the trackbar.

I never saw them but the frame brackets were supposed to be welded to the frame to solidly to justify removing them, which makes me think this is a first gen. kit. I'm either going to have to contact RK and get some new brackets or try and find some online somewhere, or get the measurements from someone and make my own.

The rear shackles went on the sellers new XJ as did the brake lines, so i'm gonna need some brake lines or brake line measurements and maybe see about shackles if the stock ones won't work. I'm gonna need shocks too.

He sold the SYE and rear shaft to someone else so i'm gonna need to get a SYE and rear shaft. Maybe a 1" t-case drop will be enough to get by for now.

I'm hoping maybe the kit has settled down to about 6" but I doubt it. I only saw the Jeep in person once before it was parted out and it was running 35's with room to spare. Really wanted to go about 4.5"-5.5" with 33's and maybe run a snorkel if I had too. Already moved my air intake to the cowl thing under the windshield wipers but have still had some pucker moments doing water crossings in the flat woods. I know I know, keep your jeep out of the water. But I live in Florida, and part of the year the trails are going to be under water. Its just one of those things.

Any tips or tricks anyone can pass on to me? Anyone running this lift that remembers what measurement shocks and brakelines they ended up with? Anyone know the measurements for the frame brackets? I've found a bunch of pictures on here and other sites and was going to base the brackets on them. Steering is also going to be a small issue.
Besides that i'm pretty stoked about finally getting a real lift and getting my build started.

Thanks,
Jessie

bradow said:

Any tips or tricks anyone can pass on to me?

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slow down, you gotta tackle things one thing at a time...
what kinda leafs and coils are they? did he peice together the lift or buy a complete rk kit?

8" is ambitious,but your in florida so it wont be a rock crawler or jeepspeed... and may work out for you...
just dont expect cheap or easy, at that height you need giant tires, and associated axles.
.

OK so I checked it out in the daylight this morning. The lower arms are the straight link kind with no upward bend. There are krawler joints on both ends of the lowers, no bushings. I guess it's supposed to be like that though on this gen. 1 stuff. Half of the grease zerks are missing and the other half look as if they could snap off at any moment. So I need to find a writeup on how to take the joints apart and so I can drill and tap for some new ones.

The trackbar is heavy. I think its taped solid stock. There is no sign of any kind of welded in thread insert for the heim, it just screws in.

I'm inclined to think this is a complete RK kit. He said the coil springs are really soft. When i put it together, if it sits too high i'll try removing a leaf from the rear or building a bastard pack out of it. Not really worried too much about messing this pack up, its starting to take on a 'W' shape, well really more like this '\_/' I'm sure someone somewhere, especially here in florida, would be willing to trade their 6" coils for some 8" coils.

I still only want to run 33's. I picked up a 44/9" a while back that I had planned on eventually swapping and running larger tires but I ended up selling them off. I literally just put an aussie locker in the D30 two days ago. I've got an XJ 44 I bought to swap in but it needs to be rebuilt first.

I really take my time with stuff and wait on deals, it'll probably be another year before I get all the parts to put together a full lift. Right now i think i've spent about $1200 total on the Jeep, including the Jeep, BB, Aussie, this lift, and current tires.

I think your on the right track, and like you mentioned, the steering is a major item that is often overlooked. 8" is a very ambious lift to go to from only haveing a BB to start with, but if you take your time and learn the limitations of your rig you will be fine. I have built my rig now to 8" and I am thinking about going back to 6.5" and proper bump stopping to clear the 35's w/o any additional trimming. If you decide to only want a certain height, dont just settle for what you have, sell off what you dont want or need to fund what you really desire. Build it right the first time and save your time and money. You stated that it will probably be another year before your done anyway, so take that time and get the rig built the way you really want it, not just built with parts on hand (trust me, I have been down that road many times ). Hope this helps even in the slightest.

Yeah that does help. I've had the BB for a while and can wheel it to its limits, and am ready for an upgrade. Like I said, i really didn't want to go 8" but thats the deal that came along so i jumped on it. I think i'm gonna check out Rusty's and see about some shocks and brake lines.

check with GRIMUS99XJ on here, he is the Rough Country rep and their shocks are basically all the same and he has extended brake lines as well. He (Rough Country) is a site supporter and vendor. It is always good to support those who support us.

I'm looking at SYE kits. A lot of places offer sye and shaft combos but most of them ship the sye first and you install it and measure for a shaft, then they ship a shaft. Good in theory, but that also sounds like a good way to get your order lost or misplaced, and it sounds like your jeep will be down for quite a while too.

I see it is possible to run an AW4 front shaft in conjunction with a standard length SYE on 3"-5" of lift until the new shaft is made and/or shipped. not sure if it would work with 8" of lift though. i kind of wanted to get the JB conversions SS SYE, but then I know a front AW4 shaft will not work with that as it puts me at the same length as an AX15 setup. Correct me if i'm wrong, I hope I am.

I could go to a junk yard and find a long splined front shaft from an F150 or something and have it cut, but that would probably be more work than its worth. and i'm concerned the U-joints will not be the same size.

Also, I dont know what size u-joints I am going to run in the finished application. I'd hate to get a shaft that will fit the d35 and then end up needing to have it modified when i put in the XJ44, unless the d35 and D44 use the same size u-joint.

'87+ factory XJ axles use 1310 u-joints at the pinion yokes.

I forget what the older ones have...some weird GKN driveshaft or something.

Started tearing into the krawler joints today. I removed the two remaining grease zirks when I started so they wouldn't get destroyed. I was planning on ordering rebuild kits for the krawler joints but after I cleaned them up I realized they were still in great shape so I greased them and put them back together. I didn't realize the 3-link arms were made of solid stock, thought that was pretty cool.

Tossed around the idea of having RK send me some new bolt on brackets but decided I didn't want to pay that much for them. Rummaged around the farm and found a big like 4"x4" or something piece of square tubing that will work perfectly for the frame LCA mounts, just needs to be cut up. I'm still deciding if I want to cut off like an 18" piece and cut it cross ways corner to corner to make my two triangle brackets or cut off two like 9" or so square pieces, and notch, fold and weld them into two boxed triangle pieces.
I found angle iron and other various pieces of metal that will work for the UCA mount, just need to punch a couple holes in them with the drill press.

I'm comfortable welding the thick stuff to make the brackets, growing up on a farm you get pretty good with a stick welder. But i'm not at all skilled enough to start welding to the uniframe, which brings me to my next issue.

I have several local welding shops. Many of them have mobile welding trucks, but i'm not sure I trust any of them to weld thick metal to a uniframe either. The guy I want to do it is a member of our club and has welded on many XJ's before, but his shop is 45 miles away. I really want to put the suspension together and then weld the brackets on to get them as close to perfect as possible. I could trailer it to him and have him do it that way but that presents a bunch of other problems. I could make the LCA brackets bolt onto the two or three existing holes in the framerail and slowly drive the jeep to his shop so that he can burn them on or..
I think my best option is to make the brackets, drive the Jeep to the guy, have him take some measurements, and weld the LCA brackets onto the frame, then drive the Jeep back to my house to put the lift on at my leisure. Make the UCA mounts bolt on style and have them welded later, and hope there is enough adjustment in the krawler joints to make up for any error I made making the LCA brackets or any error he made welding them on.

I got a drive shaft, but it is by no means HD. Gonna keep waiting on some deals on shocks, brake lines, and SYE before I have to buy them new. Think i'm gonna start saving for a currie steering system and maybe a drop pitman arm if I need it. I think stock ZJ pitman arms provide a 1" drop. The Currie system is supposed to be best for 4-5 inches of lift, not 8. I liked the tech behind the alumiflex tierod, and realistically, here in florida, your more likley to bounce your steering off of a stump hidden under water than slowly drag it across a rock. So I may end up with some type of hybrid system with a flexible tierod and a stout drag link.

edit; the bushing spacer things on the krawler joints on one end of the LCA are different the the ones on the krawler joint on the other end of the LCA (no bushings). I think the bigger, wider ones go on the axle end, but am not 100% sure, so if one of the RK gen. 1 guys could chime in...

Thanks
Jessie

bradow said:

Also, I dont know what size u-joints I am going to run in the finished application. I'd hate to get a shaft that will fit the d35 and then end up needing to have it modified when i put in the XJ44, unless the d35 and D44 use the same size u-joint.

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If I was you, I'd get that d35 out from under the rear of that thing first. At 8 or even 6" of lift, the tires you run will kill a d35 quick.
Getting the d35 out from under my stock 88 and replacimng it atleast a 29 spline 8.25 is in phase one of my buildup for this spring.

235/75/R15's are going to kill a D35?:huh:

33+ tires will destroy your d35 under less than extreme wheeling conditions.

maybe I should consider an Xj44.

Man i wish i could get a deal on one of those 3 links........